Dr. Kelsey A. Hart (University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine)
What is the most interesting animal you’ve ever treated/experience you’ve had as a vet?
As a large-animal internal medicine specialist at the UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital, I get to work on all different kinds of large animals every day, including horses, cows, goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas and pigs. Every so often we treat other unusual large animals, including camels and even a miniature zebu!
What advice would you give to someone considering a career as a veterinarian, specifically large animal veterinarian?
If you think you want to work with large animals, make sure you also spend time on some farms with the animals you are interested in (horses, cattle, pigs, etc.) to be sure you understand the veterinary profession from the animals’ owners’ perspective as well. Reach out to local vets, farms, or the vet school in your region to make contacts to get this experience.
Dr. Elizabeth Mackey (Sycamore Veterinary Services)
What’s a typical day like for you?
There are no typical days! Seeing so many different species means we never know what will come in the door. I love it when I have a day with lots of variety—birds, rabbits, snakes, tortoises, dogs and cats… we love them all!
What is the most interesting pet you’ve ever treated?
There are interesting pets because of their personalities (like a Goffin’s cockatoo who rolls toys down his back and catches them) to the really cool medical cases (removing different parts of toy soldiers from a ferret’s GI tract—it was a war in there!) to species we don’t see very often, like red-bellied macaws and genets.
What’s the biggest misconception about veterinarians/veterinary care?
We are all doing this work because we enjoy working with the animals and their owners, but sometimes people are frustrated that we can’t afford to discount everything, or do free services. Because we can’t do it for free doesn’t mean we don’t care.
Dr. Jennifer Howard (Boulevard Animal Hospital)
What is the most interesting pet you’ve ever treated?
The most interesting pet I’ve ever treated was a Savannah cat while I was an associate working just outside of Monroe. This is a type of wild African cat. They are very large, very strong, with large teeth and very long claws. I enjoyed the experience but am very, very grateful that Athens has UGA Veterinary School Exotics service to refer class like this to now.
What’s the biggest misconception about veterinarians/veterinary care?
Veterinary medicine is a physically and mentally grueling profession, for which vet techs are not financially compensated at anywhere near the same level as their human health-care colleagues. They are truly the unsung heroes of the veterinary world.
Photo Credit: Boulevard Animal Hospital
What advice would you give to someone considering a career as a veterinarian, specifically a large animal veterinarian?
Choose any other career that would make you happy. Anything. At. All. If nothing else comes to mind, or will possibly fit the bill, then veterinary medicine is likely the career for you. I personally love it… I’d say welcome to all those crazy enough to want to enter into the fray.
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